The House of Percy

Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family

Bertram Wyatt-Brown

Although the novels of Walker Percy represent some of the most prominent work in twentieth-century Southern fiction, the Percy family itself has a history that is arguably as compelling as anything he could have created. Behind Percy's prose lurks a legacy of wealth, literary accomplishment, political leadership, depression, and suicide that spans two centuries. In The House of Percy, Bertram Wyatt-Brown, a leading scholar of the South, skillfully combines intensive research and telling insights to produce the unforgettable story of this gifted family. The history begins with their first prominent ancestor, "Don Carlos" Percy, an eighteenth-century soldier of fortune who amassed a large estate only to fall victim to mental disorder and suicide, and concludes with poet and war hero Will Percy who shared his home with Walker and his brothers after the suicidal death of their father and their mother's drowning. In between, the author recovers the tragic lives and literary achievements of several Percy-related women, and chronicles the fiery life of Senator LeRoy Percy who defied the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Throughout his biography of this powerful dynasty, Wyatt-Brown draws out the twin themes of an inherited inclination to despondency and an abiding sense of honor. The House of Percy reveals the surprising possibility that melancholy itself may lead to inspiring and artistically creative results.

The House of Percy

Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family

Bertram Wyatt-Brown

Description

The novels of Walker Percy--The Moviegoer, Lancelot, The Second Coming, and The Thanatos Syndrome to name a few--have left a permanent mark on twentieth-century Southern fiction; yet the history of the Percy family in America matches anything, perhaps, that he could have created. Two centuries of wealth, literary accomplishment, political leadership, depression, and sometimes suicide established a fascinating legacy that lies behind Walker Percy's acclaimed prose and profound insight into the human condition. In The House of Percy, Bertram Wyatt-Brown masterfully interprets the life of this gifted family, drawing out the twin themes of an inherited inclination to despondency and an abiding sense of honor. The Percy family roots in Mississippi and Louisiana go back to "Don Carlos" Percy, an eighteenth-century soldier of fortune who amassed a large estate but fell victim to mental disorder and suicide. Wyatt-Brown traces the Percys through the slaveholding heyday of antebellum Natchez, the ravages of the Civil War (which produced the heroic Colonel William Alexander Percy, the "Gray Eagle"), and a return to prominence in the Mississippi Delta after Reconstruction. In addition, the author recovers the tragic lives and literary achievements of several Percy-related women, including Sarah Dorsey, a popular post-Civil War novelist who horrified her relatives by befriending Jefferson Davis--a married man--and bequeathing to him her plantation home, Beauvoir, along with her entire fortune. Wyatt-Brown then chronicles the life of Senator LeRoy Percy, whose climactic re-election loss in 1911 to a racist demagogue deply stung the family pride, but inspired his bold defiance to the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. The author goes on to tell the poignant story of poet and war hero Will Percy, the Senator's son. The weight of this family narrative found expression in Will Percy's memoirs, Lanterns on the Levee--and in the works of Walker Percy, who was reared in his cousin Will's Greenville home after the suicidal death of Walker's father and his mother's drowning. As the biography of a powerful dynasty, steeped in Sou8thern traditions and claims to kinship with English nobility, The House of Percy shows the interrelationship of legend, depression, and grand achievement. Written by a leading scholar of the South, it weaves together intensive research and thoughtful insights into a riveting, unforgettable story.

The House of Percy

Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family

Bertram Wyatt-Brown

Author Information

Bertram Wyatt-Brown is Richard J. Milbauer Professor of History at the University of Florida. His books include Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South and Yankee Saints and Southern Sinners.

The House of Percy

Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family

Bertram Wyatt-Brown

Reviews and Awards

"Absolutely riveting history."--Los Angeles Times

"The House of Percy is a wonderful book: it traces, in a fascinating and eloquent way, the history of dark moods, suicide, and imagination in one of America's great--and most interesting--Southern families."--Kay Redfield Jamieson, author of The Unquiet Mind and Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament